Wednesday December 19 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

Investors stunned by ECB's EU350bn - (www.ft.com)
Hovnanian's losses quadruple - (money.cnn.com)
Florida Got Lehman Help Before Run on School's Funds - (www.bloomberg.com)
Investors own about one-fifth of Bay Area houses in foreclosure - (www.sfgate.com)
Democrats may commit the real mortgage fraud - (www.chicagotribune.com)
Confidence in US housing market spirals lower - (guardian.co.uk)
Walk away, and do it now! - (walkaway.blog.com)
Goldman hints record run could be ending - (www.ft.com)
Goldman Sachs prepared the market for a possible end to its remarkable run of record-breaking profits in defiance of the credit squeeze, warning that difficult market conditions in November had clouded its outlook
Paulson Favors Fannie, Freddie Buying Jumbo Mortgages - (www.bloomberg.com)
Greenspan: Throw Cash At Mortgage Crisis - (seekingalpha.com)
Bear Stearns halts lending in Irvine, cuts 150 jobs - (http://ml-implode.com/)
FHA Secure Flop. Only 266 Borrowers Have Been Assisted! - (http://ml-implode.com/)
Is the Goldman Sachs Game Fixed? - (http://ml-implode.com/)
Subprime woes lead to $1.1bn Centro default - (www.ft.com) ($)


Other Stories:

The Continuing Crisis: It's Not Over Yet - (www.goldmoney.com)
Presidential Candidates On The Mortgage Bailout - (efinancedirectory.com)
Money-Market Rates Fail to Respond to Bank Measures - (www.bloomberg.com)
Greenspan Spins the Housing Bubble - (www.tpmcafe.com)
Housing industry looks to make taxpayers liable for their mistakes - (www.bizjournals.com)
Subprime Securities Market Began as Group of 5' Over Chinese - (www.bloomberg.com)
Failure Beyond Finance - (jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com)
SIV liquidity problems: The next wave looms - (http://ml-implode.com/)
London Leads Biggest England House-Price Drop Since 2002 - (www.bloomberg.com)
Questions for John Bogle - (money.cnn.com)
Renters driving down condo prices - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Renters won't cover your mortgage - (www.palmbeachpost.com)
Mortgage-Relief Plan Divides Neighbors - (online.wsj.com)
Reckless Lending By Central Banks and Its Consequences - (www.safehaven.com)
Housing Starts in U.S. Drop 3.7%, Building Permits Decline to 14-Year Low - (www.bloomberg.com)
Southern California home prices tumble in November - (www.reuters.com)
Home Sales Drop 45% in November, Southern California Sets 20-Year Low - OC Register
Prospect of aggressive US rate cuts fades - (www.ft.com)
Grocery bills to keep growing - (www.dallasnews.com)
GAO flunks government's financials - (www.cfo.com)
High costs squeezing travel - (www.latimes.com)
No housing bubble popped in Ohio, Michigan - (www.msnbc.msn.com)

Monetary rescue helicopters getting bigger - (www.ft.com)
Defaults to Quadruple as More Companies Cut to Junk - (www.bloomberg.com)
States Short 27% of $2.7 Trillion Owed Retirees, Pew Study Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
Merrill: $500 Billion in Economy-Wide Mortgage Losses - (online.wsj.com)
Fitch may set limits for debt product ratings - (www.ft.com) ($)
San Diego November home prices slide 10% from 2006 - (www.signonsandiego.com)
Wheat hits record as global demand depletes supply - (www.usatoday.com)

Goldman Gains in Worst Wall Street Quarter Since '01 - (www.bloomberg.com)
US manufacturers warned on insularity - (www.ft.com) ($)
Goldman's bet against subprime was huge - (news.scotsman.com).com
Goldman's Bonus Pool Jumps 23% to Record $12 Billion - (www.bloomberg.com)

ECB, BoE turn on funding taps to ease crunch - (www.reuters.com)
ECB Lends 348.6 Billion Euros, Easing Year-End Cash Drought - (www.bloomberg.com)
Former Fed chief blamed for stoking US sub-prime loans crisis - (business.timesonline.co.uk)
U.K. sellers cutting home prices - (www.telegraph.co.uk)

Insight: Painful adjustments ahead for banking system - (www.ft.com) ($)
Time to admit that the models don't work - (www.ft.com) ($)